The Lagos State government,o LASG, Thursday arraigned Chrisland School, Opebi, its principal, vice principal and two employees over the death of one of the school’s pupils, 12-year-old Whitney Adeniran.
The school’s workers who were arraigned before Justice Oyindamola Ogala of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja include Ademoye Adewale, Kuku Fatai, Mrs. Belinda Amao, Nwatu Ugochi Victoria and Chrisland School Limited.
The defendants were arraigned on two count charges bordering on involuntary manslaughter, reckless and negligent acts preferred against them by the state.
While in the dock, the school’s principal, Mrs. Belinda Amao, broke down in tears as the court and counsel tried to agree on a date for the commencement of the trial.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) recalls that the mother of Whitney Adeniran, a 12-year-old female student of Chrisland High School, Ikeja, Lagos, had confirmed the cause of the daughter’s death.
The mother, Blessing Adeniran, disclosed that investigation revealed that her daughter died from electrocution while taking part in the school’s sporting events held at the Agege Stadium in Lagos.
In a live video on her official Instagram business account, Mrs Adediran said an autopsy carried out to unravel the circumstances surrounding the death revealed it was electrocution.
Before the autopsy, the parents of the deceased had insisted that the student was hale and hearty before leaving home on the said day, but the school management denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the student “slumped” at the stadium.
Alleged cover-up attempt?
Crying profusely, Mrs Adediran said she has been subjected to trauma since her daughter died, adding that the school also contributed to the trauma for allegedly “pushing false narratives to protect their reputation.”
She said: “They made me think I was crazy, they started pushing the narrative that she was sick. I told them, I dont want trouble, I want answers. They came to my house. I knelt down, begged and pleaded that I dont want my daughter butchered for autopsy sake
“I told them my daughter is already dead, and I don’t want to put her through that and my husband told them we have been hearing rumours of electrocution and asked them to help us investigate these rumours, but they refused.
“They sent a letter to me and my husband that they just want to assure us that they did everything humanly possible to save my daughter’s life.”
Mrs Adediran added that the family would sue the school in a law court.
Background
Following the unfortunate death of the student, the deceased’s parents initially accused the school management of negligence.
They took to social media to seek public intervention to unravel the circumstances that may have led to their daughter’s sudden death while taking part in the sporting events.
The parents insisted that the lack of an ambulance or first aiders at the venue of the sporting events contributed to the student’s death.